26% of People Have Deleted the Facebook App - Here's the Problem
A study was published by Pew Research Center indicating that 26% of Facebook users in the USA have deleted the app from their mobile devices. Not only are people deleting the app, but in the same study, it was noted that 42% of Facebook users have taken a substantial break from the website at some point within the past year. This break often lasts longer than just a couple of weeks.
Why are fewer people using Facebook?
There are many reasons for Facebook's decline, which I'll refrain from getting into. But, I want to focus on the main reason for Facebook's decline. We all know that Facebook could be renamed to Hatebook. Yes, that's a joke. But, it would be a more accurate name for the website at times. Facebook is a place where political agendas are pushed in almost every post. It's where we share our unfiltered emotions toward other people. It's a place where the most delightful people turn into monsters.We've all turned out to be trolls on the internet. We want to make people mad who don't share the same views as we do. Here's a pro tip for you: If you're going to win people over, stop making people mad; it's counter-productive.
The truth is, Facebook isn't the problem.
The problem is the state of the human heart. Facebook, itself is actually an enjoyable and helpful website. The problem is that we, humanity, have become more hateful and negative than ever before.Therein lies the bigger issue. The condition of the human heart. The person each of us truly is, is the person we become when we're left completely alone. Our hearts are evil and growing more evil because of how easy it is to display them on social media. For some reason, we've all decided that sharing our innermost thoughts is acceptable; we're entirely wrong.One day Facebook may not be the go-to social media platform. When that day comes, we'll hear people saying, "This is way better than Facebook." and things like, "Facebook is so negative, this is a much more positive website." When this change comes, it may seem that this is true. But, until we deal with the condition of our hearts, it will end up just like Facebook.
Related Post: The Effects Your Lifestyle Has on Establishing the Kingdom of God
My words in this post cannot reach everyone in the world. But, that is an opportunity that I would love. Instead, I'm going to speak to Christians. Please remember, my heart is to help build Christian community. I am not looking to condemn anyone with this post. Instead, I hope this inspires and helps you continue growing and becoming better. Here we go.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need a different approach.
Remember the overused bible verse where we've gotten the saying, "Be in the world not part of it." - Let's actually begin applying this to our lives. Start with stopping with your awful, hateful posts on Facebook. You're just like everyone else with the crap you post about. (Yea, I said it.)Not a single one of us have ever converted anyone to Christianity via Facebook. Our hateful comments, one-sided opinions, and Jesus jukes are pushing people further away and making people angry, just like everyone else's content.You may be saying, "Okay, Alex. This all sounds great. But what else would we do?"I'm glad you asked. There is a straightforward solution that I can sum up in just a few words.
Start loving people more.
We've all underestimated the power of love. The world is lacking it, and that's our fault, not theirs. True love can only be known through a relationship with God and understanding the sacrifice that He has made for us.God has called each of us to be His light in the world. We need to begin living this Bible verse out, even through our social media.
[easy-tweet tweet="People should be able to see Jesus through us, no matter where we are." via="no" usehashtags="no"]
Here's something on this topic of love that you may find interesting.God has blessed me with a voice in the blogging world. I've had the opportunity to write for many large websites like The Christian Post. I've written content that has gone viral many times. It's something I'm very thankful for and do not take credit for! I recently did some research to discover what piece of content I've written is my most popular. Believe it or not, the most popular blog post I've ever written is not one of my brilliant political posts, which I have shared plenty of. My most popular post (by far) is titled, If you can remember to do one thing, remember to love.
This should tell you something about love!
The reason websites like Facebook are filled with so much hate is because there is no love being shared. Christians, let's get back to focusing on loving people. The world needs us more than we know. It's not just Facebook that is suffering. That's an overflow/cry of people's hearts being displayed. Let's start by sharing more loving content and encouraging others instead of being haters and trolls like the rest of the world.As we begin changing the culture of Facebook, let's also make sure that we're loving our neighbors. We're needed, more than ever before. Join me, and together let's change the world by loving the people within it; just as Jesus has called us to.